Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
by Muggleborn22
Summary: Harry's sixth year is starting and anxioty is high with Voldermort's rising power. Also the loyalty of the Slytherins is in question. Through all this Harry and his friends must help on boy discover his destiny... First Fic please R
1. Disclaimer and Thanks

**_Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince_**

**_By: Muggleborn22_**

Based On J.K. Rowling's masterpieces

**_Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone_**

**_Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_**

**_Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_**

**_Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_**

**_Harry Potter and the Order of the _****_Phoenix_**

And facts given about **_Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince_**

Also special thanks to **Darkcrow **and **S.Black13 **on for helping me form most of the theories used in this fan fic.

Yeah and to **Cole** and **Lindz** for getting me hooked on fan fiction in the first place.

Hope you enjoy

and don't forget to **_Read and Review_**


	2. Thoughts and Memories

**Chapter 1 **

**Thoughts and Memories **

Their sixth year was going to be starting in two weeks and he was incredibly bored. He had been at Grimmauld Place after spending three weeks at the Dursleys.  
  
'_Stupid charm_' Harry thought to himself, '_If it wasn't for that I would have never needed to stay there in the first place!_'  
  
It had still been pretty funny when Moody, Tonks, and Lupin all came busting into 4 Privet Drive. He had purposely forgotten to write to the Order so that they would come and see what he was doing.  
  
He hadn't unpacked since he had back, knowing that he would most likely be going to 12 Grimmald Place, which was legally his now but Lupin who had been appointed new guardian had taken charge of it.  
  
It had been almost a month since that had happened and now school was going to be starting back soon. 'Thank Merlin' he swore under his breath. They, that is, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Neville, Ginny and himself, had finished cleaning the house within a week of his arriving.  
  
Hermione's parents had come also but being unable to see the house had been sent back to their house in Oxford. Hermione worried about them constantly.  
  
Unfortunately Neville's grandmother had come along too and was the main reason that the house had been cleaned so quickly, she was very forceful to say the least.  
  
Ron, Ginny, and himself had been practicing Quidditch a lot in an empty field about a mile from the mansion under the care of Tonks and Lupin who were spending more and more time together.  
  
Good news seemed to be rare now-a-days with there being Muggle attacks and what not but when some good news did sneak in there was a celebration. Cornelius Fudge had been impeached from Minister of Magic and Amelia Bones had taken his place, with Mr. Weasley appointed assistant. There had been a huge celebration and Harry had even forgotten about Sirius at the time but was upset with himself afterwards for forgetting.  
  
They had unfortunately not heard from Percy since then and were a little concerned that he might have followed Fudge into joining Voldemort's ranks. But they still held hope.  
  
Besides that Weasleys' Wizards Wheezes had been doing terrific! They had made over 10,000 galleons already and were most likely going to make a lot more as students stocked up before going to school, although Mrs. Weasley didn't think that this was a very good thing. But in other news Umbridge had become one of the leading Death Eaters that had lead the Dementors away from Azkaban to Voldermort's ranks.  
  
And all the Death Eaters that had been captured such as Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, and the others that they had fought in the Department of Mysteries had escaped. Making Neville and Hermione even more worried than they needed to be. Even though they heard word from Mr. and Mrs. Granger everyday she still worried that she might not get a message one day, they all were.  
  
They had also gotten word that the Colin and Dennis's mum and dad had been murdered while they had gone to spend the night at a friend's house, so they had been taken in by their grandparents (who were also muggles) and would most likely still be returning to Hogwarts just for safety reasons.  
  
On top of that Harry still hadn't told his friends about the Prophecy, yet, although he knew he would tell them eventually. He just didn't want to put more pressure on them to keep that quiet.  
  
Also he was still dealing with the loss of Sirius. He really wanted and needed to talk to Luna about it since she knew what it was like to lose a loved one in an accident, that's what he had called Sirius's death, an accident. But whenever he felt like talking about it Luna was never around and whenever she was he didn't feel like talking about it, but he knew he needed to talk soon or he would burst. Lupin was not much help, he always got so weepy and would talk about how much Sirius loved him and how he wanted to have his name cleared so he could go and see Harry's graduation and Quiditch matches.  
  
Well, that was another bit of good news, Harry had been reinstated as Seeker and given the position of team Captain. Although they only had three players left and would most likely have to hold a bunch of tryouts for them. He just hoped some new talent would pop up.  
  
Just then his thoughts were interrupted when a large Hogwarts owl came through the window in his room. At least you can't be a prefect or Head Boy in your sixth year it was mostly devoted to what your career was going to be. Then he remembered... O.W.L. results!

Hope you like it! My first fan fic! Please R&R! Anything negative will be deleted!


	3. OWL's

**Redone thanks to, halfblood princess, who reveiwed and told me that I had forgotten History of Magic scores! Whoops! Thanks also to xxginnyfanxx who also reveiwed an is the author of an awesome fanfic titled Mudblood Prophecy. I highly reccomend it!**

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**Chapter 2 **

**O.W.L's**

He ripped open the envelope putting the book list to a side then looked at his results.

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that your O.W.L results have been evaluated and scored according to your performance. Hopefully you achieved your standard of work. And we hope to see you in a suitable magical job and living up to your full potential.

Yours sincerely,

The Minister of Magic

_Amelia Bones_

_P.S. Harry when you graduate I hope to see you here working as an Auror._

Hogwarts Ordinary Wizarding Levels Results

Astronomy 86% A

Care of Magical 97% O

Creatures

Charms 101% O

Defence Against 115% O

The Dark Arts

Divination 31% P-

Herbology 91% E

History of Magic 80% A-

Potions 94% O-

Transfigurations 103% O

He had done it! He had just gotten the scores that he needed to become an Auror. Professor McGonagall will be thrilled. But first he had to go and find Ron, Hermione and Neville to see what they got.

He ran down the stairs to the kitchen when he bumped into Hermione who screamed and tumbled backwards down the stairs.

"Holy Merlin! Are you alright" he said exasperated.

"You know what I don't get?" said Hermione feebly, getting back to her feet and rubbing her head, "Is how can you have a major accident and then someone just asks 'Are you alright?' when it's obvious you're not!"

"Well you must be alright if you can still make a speech" he said matter of factly. Hermione shot him a glare. Then he quickly added, "Just kidding, but are you seriously hurt?" he said a bit more gently.

"Yes, I'm fine, just a little startled. I wanted to see if you had gotten your results back yet," she answered still rubbing her head.

"What's all the noise?" said a familiar voice. Lupin had appeared at the top of the stairs. "Oh, I just fell down the stairs backwards coming to see Harry," she answered.

"Are you alright?" he said soothingly.

"See what I mean" she directed at Harry.

He couldn't help but laugh at Lupin's confused face. With some more reassurance from Hermione that she was alright he finally went back to his room.

"Alright back to my question" she said as though nothing had happened. "Did you get your O.W.L's back?"

"Yeah, how about you?" he answered

"Of coarse or I wouldn't have come to see if you had yours, now come down stairs Ron and Neville are waiting."

Not wanting to argue he followed and was a little curious to what everyone else had gotten. Laid out on the table were three sheets of paper, which he discovered to be the others. He quickly laid his down and then took a glance at everyone's…

Dear Mr. Longbottom,

We are pleased to inform you that your O.W.L results have been evaluated and scored according to your performance. Hopefully you achieved your standard of work. And we hope to see you in a suitable magical job and living up to your full potential.

Yours sincerely,

The Minister of Magic

_Amelia Bones_

Astronomy 80% A-

Care of Magical 94% O

Creatures

Charms 89% A

Defence Against 100% O

The Dark Arts

Divination 70% P

Herbology 105% O

History of Magic 78% P

Potions 86% A

Transfigurations 90% E

Dear Mr. Weasley,

We are pleased to inform you that your O.W.L results have been evaluated and scored according to your performance. Hopefully you achieved your standard of work. And we hope to see you in a suitable magical job and living up to your full potential.

Yours sincerely,

The Minister of Magic

_Amelia Bones_

Astronomy 78% A-

Care of Magical 94% O

Creatures

Charms 88% A

Defence Against 97% O

The Dark Arts

Divination 11% D

Herbology 84% A

History of Magic 74% P

Potions 86% A

Transfigurations 90% E

Dear Ms. Granger,

We are pleased to inform you that your O.W.L results have been evaluated and scored according to your performance. Hopefully you achieved your standard of work. And we hope to see you in a suitable magical job and living up to your full potential.

Yours sincerely,

The Minister of Magic

_Amelia Bones_

_P.S. With these results you could become anything in the wizarding world you would like as long as you get these on your N.E.W.T's. Good Luck!_

Ancient Runes 110% O

Arithmancy 110% O

Astronomy 105% O

Care of Magical 110% O

Creatures

Charms 120% O

Defence Against 115% O

The Dark Arts

Herbology 105% O

History of Magic 115% O

Potions 120% O

Transfigurations 110% O

He reread over everyone's carefully, then looked back at his. Hermione had scores perfect on all her tests, I guess she was wrong about getting ehwaz and ehiwaz confused. '_Stress_' was the first word to cross his mind she had probably made herself think she had gotten wrong studying so hard for all those tests.

But he smiled to himself as realised something. He too had gotten perfect on his Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. 'Yes!'

Then he asked, "Hermione, did you perform a Patronus for the instructor?"

"Yes, I really wanted to see Umbridge's face when I did it. It was hilarious!" she answered starting to giggle. "She looked like she was about to strangle me but I didn't care, she deserved it!"

Harry grinned to himself. Umbridge had given him a pure look of hatred and astonishment when he had performed his Patronus. His smile was stopped when he finally looked at Ron. Ron's face was pale and he looked all glassy eyed.

"My mum is going to kill me!" he finally cried. "Fred and George did better than me! At least they got three O's each I only got two!" he said all this breathing very hard.

Hermione finally had to calm him down. "Ron, it's alright, you still got high scores. You got plenty of E's you will still get to take N.E.W.T's in the classes you wanted and you'll have no more Snape."

This cheered him up a little bit. "Yeah, I guess you're right, but then again you're always right. I'm mean, look at your scores…" he did a weak chuckle and swallowed hard.

Trying to change the subject he turned to Neville. "You did awesome in Herbology! The only bonus question I knew was about the effects of gillyweed but judging by my scores it didn't help much…"

Neville seemed to brighten up, "Thanks, Harry, I worked really hard on that. Professor Sprout will be so happy! I can't wait for school now and no more Snape for me either, Ron!" then he froze. "I better go tell Gran about this," You could here him yelling, "Gran, where are you? I got my O.W.L results I can become a herbologist!" all the way down the hall.

"I better go tell me parents…" said Hermione finally. "They really wanted to know what my scores were." and she went to find Tonks so that she should walk her down to the phone booth.

"Well, mate, better go and get this over with. Let me show her mine first so that way your's will blow her away. Alright?" Ron said. Harry who hadn't being paying attention finally snapped to his senses.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, let's go show you mum." He muttered.

They walked down the hall to the kitchen. "Hey mum! Look I got my O.W.L results. You want to have a look?" Ron mumbled across the room.

"What was that, dear? Didn't' quite hear you." Mrs. Weasley said, then she noticed the paper in his hands. "Oh, Ron, your O.W.L's! Well come here and let's see how you did."

Ron handed her the paper. "Hm… well at least you will still be able to take your N.E.W.T's in a few of the classes, and your Defence against the Dark Arts score is really high…" she took one look at Ron's face and then added quickly. "I am very proud of you, Ron. You've done so much how could I really worry about your scores?"

Relief flooded over his face and he hugged his mum. Then he caught sight of Harry and quickly broke the hug. "Mum you should really see Harry's."

"Oh, yes, well then, Harry, let's see what you got." She said smiling.

She read them then finally said, "This is amazing! You really did well, Harry!" and she took him into a rib-crushing hug.

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley…" but his face was starting to go purple from his circulation being cut off.

"Well it's almost time for breakfast. We'll just wait on Hermione and then we'll start." Just then the door opened and Hermione came into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Mrs. Weasley, have you looked at everyone's results yet?" she said brightly, she always felt better after she had talked to her parents.

"Everyone's but you and Neville's" she said extending a hand to take Hermione's results. Hermione handed them over, she was trying very hard to act modest but it was hard when got record breaking results.

"Hermione…" Mrs. Weasley started in awe. "These results are amazing! They are perfect! I don't think anyone's done this before. We should ask Professor McGonagall when she comes for the meeting today."

Hermione looked overly delighted. "Really? Really? I can't believe that…"

Harry and Ron looked at each other and laughed before embracing Hermione in a huge hug that pulled her off the ground.

"Will you two, please get off of me?" she said playfully.

"No" they said together.

"Not until you tell us your secret." Said Ron

"What secret?" Hermione asked curiously.

"How someone so beautiful can be so smart?" said Ron smiling at Hermione.

Harry backed off and let Ron stand there with Hermione in his arms.

"Oh, Ron…" said Hermione finally.

Mrs. Weasley was going all teary eyed, she hadn't expected this to ever happen since that dreadful Rita Skeeter had written that Hermione liked Harry and Krum in the paper.

Then the moment was broken by Neville who burst through the door, screaming, "Harry, Harry! Professor Snape's here! And he wants to see you!"


	4. Snape's Talk

**Yeah I got it up and special thanks to xxginnyfanxx, halfblood princess, and RyanL for reveiwing. And to RyanL I don't think I can get into trouble for using Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince for a title as long as I give credit to JK Rowiling but thanks for the warning. Anyway there are about 24 other fics with this title! Anyway hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 3  
Snape's Talk**

"What!" said Harry, Hermione, and Ron together.

"Snape wants to talk to you Harry, and he said that he wanted to talk to _only _you!" said Neville stressing the part about Snape wanting only Harry.

"Better go and get the Extendable Ears then..." said Ron.

"Ron! We could get into a lot of trouble! Snape wants to talk to Harry alone!" screamed Hermione.

"No, no, no let Ron get the ears, Hermione, I want all of you to hear this," sighed Harry. "Well better get this over with..." he finally said after a moment's silence.

"Alright Neville, Hermione, let's go get the ears. Don't worry Harry school hasn't started yet. He can't give you detention." Ron gave a weak smile and exited the room and went up stairs to his room to fetch the Extendable Ears.

Harry walked cautiously down the hallway to where Snape was standing, not knowing what he wanted. Harry walked slower and slower but he eventually reached his Potions professor.

"Hello, Potter," said Snape, looking at Harry as if it were the reason for all of his miseries.

"Hello, _professor_," said Harry just as harsh. '_He's the reason Sirius is dead! No it's not, you didn't practice. I would have if he hadn't been so mean to me..._' he thought angrily to himself. It was so easy to blame Snape, but he knew it was not all his fault.

"Potter!" snapped Snape, bringing Harry back to reality.

"What do you want?" said Harry rudely.

"That's no way to speak to your elders!" said Snape. "Well at least I won't have you in class this year." He said cheerfully.

"You wish!" Harry almost laughed. A sudden look of surprise came over Snape's face.

"You got an O on your O.W.L.'s?" he said blankly.

"Yeah, without you there, it was easy. Neville did pretty well too, but did not get an O." said Harry matter-of-factly.

"Well, well, Potter, did that know-it-all Granger girl help you study? Or did you do it all by yourself." He said coldly.

You could hear a thud upstairs. '_They must have stopped Hermione from jumping on him,_' thought Harry. And a smile crept onto his face.

"You didn't answer me, Potter!"" he said starting to raise his voice.

"As a matter of fact, _Hermione_ did help me study. I would have probably never passed without her help. Oh and don't worry she'll be in your class too," Harry said, keeping his cool. "Anyway, back to the subject, Neville said that you had something to tell me."

Regaining his composure, he started "Yes, it's about what happened in the Department of Mysteries..."

Harry went quiet; he could feel the color go out of his face. "Wha- What about it?" he stammered.

"You need to understand something." he said.

"Need to understand what?" he screamed. "That I was wrong to not listen to you! That I was wrong to go down to the Department of Mysteries, not knowing that it was a trap and nearly got all my friends killed! That I should have never looked in your pensive and seen your rotten childhood! What do I need to understand!" he was very hot and out of breath when he finished this.

Snape looking a little taken back said, "Well, I know Professor Dumbledore has already talked to you about this. But you need to know that I have been asked to start lessons back with you. Professor Dumbledore finds in it his best interest that you should start to find out more about your parents. So I have been told not to empty my thoughts during lessons so that you can have a look. That is if you can break through my legitimacy spell."

Harry looked a little shocked, "You know about my parents? Not just bad stuff but some good stuff too?"

"Potter, that is for me to know and you to find out." And with that he walked out the door without a second glance.

'_My parents, the marauders, Sirius._' all sorts of thoughts started coming to his head.

"Harry, are you alright?" said a soothing voice. He had not noticed that the others had come back downstairs. Ginny was the one talking to him.

"Yeah, yeah…" he said quietly.

Then Ron wanting to break the silence said, "Who wants to play Quiditch?"


	5. Quiditch

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! lindsey-31, halfblood princess, cocoaducks, Weasleylover35753, Goddess Lauren, Solaris Day, Lady Mariel, OnlyBeingMe, Jessica Grange, and ERMonkey, Burner of Cookies.

Oh yeah and an extra disclaimer for those of you who choose not to read my first page. I didn't steal JKR's title there are about 25 other fan fics with the name. Also I will say this again this is my idea on what the sixth book will be like. I don't own any of JKR's stuff and never will. This is just my take on the storiy using theories that I have made while being on HPANA. Alright now that that's settled. My long awaited next chapter...

**Chapter 4**

**Quiditch**

"Yeah, that's a great idea, Ron!" said Ginny, almost sounding a little too glad.

"Alright, Luna, Neville and I can watch, I kind of bored anyway," added Hermione quickly.

Picking up on the hint Neville said, "Come on Harry, I'll go get the crate of balls we found cleaning up!"

"And I'll fetch the brooms!" said Luna dramatically.

"Yeah, you guys do that, I'll go up to my room and get my Firebolt…" said Harry dully.

"And I'll come too, I gotta get my Cleensweep5," said Ron, not wanting Harry to lock himself in his room.

As everyone left the hallway to get set, Hermione went to find Tonks so that she could take them to the field.

As she entered the living room she saw Tonks and Lupin talking in hushed voices.

"He needs to know!" whispered Lupin loudly.

"I know but Professor Dumbledore said that he had to discover it himself," said Tonks, trying to keep her voice low.

Hermione, wanting to listen, stayed quiet for a while.

"I don't want that creep showing anything that might permanently damage any image of his parents that he had!" said Lupin forgetting to whisper.

The sudden noise made Hermione jump, and caused Lupin to look at her.

"How long have you been there, Hermione?" he said a little embarrassed.

"I just walked in," she said innocently. "I just wanted to know if Tonks could take us to the field to play Quiditch."

"Yeah, sure I'd love to!" said Tonk, wanting desperately to change the subject.

"Might I come too?" said Lupin, pretending to looked hurt.

"Of course you can!" said Tonks happily, she loved having Remus around, even if they did quarrel from time to time. "Wouldn't want the new working man to be cooped up in this old house! Now would we?"

"New working man?" said Hermione slowly, as a look of apprehension crossed her face. "Lupin, you got a job!"

"Yes, ma'am, I sure did." He said a smile creeping onto his face. "Tonks, Kingsley, Moody, Mr. Weasley and Dumbledore pulled a few strings at the Ministry for me and hooked me up with a job!"

"What are you going to be doing?" asked Hermione, curious and eager at the same time.

"He's going to be an Auror instructor!" said Tonks excitedly.

"Your going to be an Auror?" said Hermione her eyes widening.

"Oh, no, no, Hermione, an Auror _instructor,_ I'm going to be teaching anyone that wants to be an Auror or go into Dumbledore's Army." He said in an exasperated voice. side note Dumbledore's Army had become like our U.S. Army during the summer. So, no, Harry and his friends are not in it, only people 17 and above that have completed there magical education can join

"That's even better!" said Hermione. "That means that you will be one of the leading contributors to the force against Voldermort!"

After saying that, Harry came downstairs, with his Firebolt in hand.

"What's everyone so excited about?" he asked trying to sound interested, he was still shaken by Snape's visit.

"Harry, Lupin, or should I say, what should I say…?" Hermione said, thinking for a minute.

"Instructor Lupin, will be fine, Hermione," said Instructor Lupin proudly.

"_Instructor_ Lupin?" said Harry, confused. "What are you instructing?"

Just then the others came from all directions to find Hermione.

"Hey! What's the hold up! Is Tonks taking us or not?" said Ron, irritated.

"Well now that everyone's here, I'll think I'll tell it to everyone at once," said Lupin happily.

"Tell us what?" said Ron just as confused as Harry.

"If you shut up and let him talk he might tell us, Ron!" said Ginny started to get annoyed at her older brother's stupidity.

"_Thank you_, Ginny," said Lupin. Ginny smiled at Lupin and glared at Ron, who went pink. "Anyway I've just been given a job at the Ministry."

There were sounds of approval from everyone. "What are you going to do? Have the laws saying that werewolves can't have official jobs been lifted?" said Luna, normally for once, and actually sounded interested.

"Yes, Luna, they have." Lupin said happily, he had been waiting for this day since he had finished Hogwarts. "And to answer your other question, I'll be an Auror…" but he was suddenly cut off by a number of shouts made by Ron and the others, with the exception of Hermione, who shouted "QUIET!" when everyone silenced she finished, "He's not done speaking, yet."

"Thank you, Hermione," said Lupin, a little happy that he didn't have to do that himself. "As I was saying I will be an Auror _instructor_. Which means I will be training Aurors and anyone who wants to become part of Dumbledore's Army?"

Everyone was quiet for a second, letting the news sink in. Then Ginny piped up, "But that means you will be one of the top people in charge!"

"Well not really there are other Auror instructors, but I'm just happy to finally have a job again. I think that Minister Bones is doing a wonderful job. She just acquired the help of all the werewolves in England for our side." He said proudly.

"Well that's good! I mean at least they're not on He-Who… I mean V-Voldermort's side…" said Ron; he was still not used to saying Voldermort's name.

"Well I don't think they would have gone to his side anyway, they most likely would have waited for the battle to end and then join the winner's side, since no one wanted us in the first place…" he said sadly.

Wanting to get everyone back into a good mood again Ron said, "Well, anyway, are we going to play Quiditch or not?"

"I think that is a wonderful idea! Remus, I think I may need some help with the kids, mind coming along?" she asked scratching under his chin.

Smiling Lupin said, "Of course! We need to make sure that our little run-aways don't get into trouble."

"Good! Off to the Quiditch field!" yelled Ron.

They rode into a car that had been magically altered so that everyone could fit; after all there were eight of them. Once they reached the field Harry, Ron and Ginny kicked off while Hermione, Neville and Luna sat down on a bench watching there friends.

"Alright! You three, ready?" Lupin yelled.

"Yep!" they answered.

Lupin opened up the crate that held the Quiditch balls and threw the Quaffle into the air. Ginny practiced shooting on Ron, while Harry tried to catch the Snitch dodging Bludgers every few seconds.

Hermione noticed a bat on the ground and picked it up. '_What in the world?_' she thought to herself. Then it dawned on her, '_crud_' just then a Bludger came soaring out of the sky at Hermione. Instinct told her to run but she smacked the ball as hard as she could sending it into a near by tree. As that happened the other one came at her, a little more prepared this time Hermione took aim and knocked the ball back into the crate, perfectly.

Everyone stopped. Hermione looked around and suddenly cried out, "Sorry! I didn't mean to, the Bludgers, they just came at me, I didn't know what do to! I didn't mean to mess up your practice, Harry! I- I-"

But she was hushed as Ginny came off her broom and grabbed Hermione by the shoulders, "That was amazing! Do you think you could do that off a broom?"

"What? Me on a broom, you must be kidding! I can't even summon one!" said Hermione exasperated.

"Here just take mine. _Accio Bludger!_" she yelled as the Bludger that had been knocked solidly into the tree came roaring back. Hermione not wanting Ginny to hurt herself knocked the Bludger back into the crate just as she had done the other one.

"Are you crazy! That could have knocked you out or worse!" scolded Hermione. But Ginny merely grinned and handed Hermione her broom. "Just kick off, oh and keep the bat in your hand." Ginny instructed.

Hermione did as she was told. She was a little shaky at first but soon regained her balance. "Alright now on the count of three I'm going to release the Bludgers, I want you to hit them back into the crate!" she yelled at Hermione.

"Fine!" yelled Hermione, she hated sports.

"One, two, three!" just then two speedy Bludgers came roaring at her. She took special aim and knocked the first one that reached her into the other one sending them both back into the crate.

Everyone gaped. "Come down here!" Hermione flew downwards and touched back, thankful to be on solid ground. "That… was… AMAZING!" screamed Ginny, causing Hermione to jump.

"You've got to practice! Ron can I borrow your Cleensweep5? Hermione can use mine. Harry, just sit down for a while since we'll be using the Bludgers." ordered Ginny.

Harry kind of glad to end his private session quickly grabbed the Snitch, which had just come into view and placed it in the crate. Then he walked over to the bench where Ron had made some room for him to sit.

"Pretty amazing isn't she?" said Ron in awe as he stared up at Hermione.

"What? Oh! Yeah! She's great, I think she's a shoe-in for Beater…" said Harry.

"No, no, not that… I mean she's smart, talented, beautiful and now athletic. Is there anything she can't do?" said Ron still in his own little world.

Not wanting to go further into this conversation he said, "I don't know. So anyways…"

This brought Ron back to reality, "So anyways, that reminds me! What else did Snape tell you? We dropped the Extendable Ears when we had to stop Hermione from skydiving on top of Snape's head, so we only saw him leave the door once we got them situated again…" said Ron.

"Oh, just that I have to start Occulmency lessons with him again…" said Harry who noticed Ron's shocked look added, "Professor Dumbledore's idea." Ron nodded and Harry continued. "Anyway he said that I should learn more about my parents, so Dumbledore told him not to empty his thoughts into the pensive." Ron looking a little confused, Harry added, "When I asked 'You know about my parents? Not just bad stuff but some good stuff too?' He just answered 'Potter, that is for me to know and you to find out.' So I have no idea if I even want to go to those lessons if I can see more of my parents past. I mean the last time I looked into Snape's bad memories he made out the Marauders to be jerks. I don't want to think of them that way…"

In an attempt to comfort Harry Ron said, "You know if the Marauders or your mum did something good. He might consider that a bad memory. I mean he always makes them out to be the worst people in existence."

Harry thought about this for a moment then said, "You know what, Ron? I think you are a genius. Hermione better watch out."

This made Ron smile and they went back to watching Hermione and Ginny practice. '_Hermione really would make a great Beater…_' Harry thought to himself, they did need four more players after all and that would make it only three more.

Just then Hermione and Ginny touched down. Hermione was all sweaty as was Ginny but she had a huge smile on her face, "Let me introduce Gryffindor's next number-one Beater, Hermione!"

Hermione smiled and said, "Ready to go?"

They all agreed and got back into the car and drove back to 12 Grimmald Place.

Mrs. Weasley had supper ready on the table when they all came back. "Did you have a good practice?" she asked curiously.

"Mum, Hermione is going to be the next Gryffindor Beater!" Ginny exclaimed.

Whatever Mrs. Weasley had been expecting it had not been this. "Hermione is that true?"

"I don't know yet. I'm going to have to tryout like everyone else, I'm not that good really…" she said but was cut off by Ginny.

"Oh, stop being modest! You are the best Beater I've ever seen, even at pro level. Like I said earlier, you're a shoe-in for Beater. But one thing bothers me, how do you make all those hits?" said Ginny curiously.

"I just calculate the ball's speed, distance, and angle along with my arm's angle and power. Also I focus on where I want to place the ball, then I just hit it." Hermione said, but as she looked around she noticed everyone looked quite confused. "It's all simple physics really."

"Right, well, I'm confused, can we just eat?" said Ron.

"Yeah, that's sounds great," said Harry who just wanted to go to bed.

They all ate and went upstairs to Harry, Ron and Neville's room to talk.

"Hey, guys, no offence, but I just want to go to bed tonight, if that's, okay," said Harry.

Everyone looked a little disappointed but agreed it had been a long day after all.

"Goodnight, boys" Hermione called.

" 'Night everyone!" said Ginny.

"Farewell…" Luna said dramatically. "Oh, yes and don't let the Snorflaks bite."

"Goodnight!" the boys called out.

"See you in the morning, guys," said Harry as he fell asleep into dreams of a championship Gryffindor Quiditch team.

Suddenly he was awoken by Ron, "Harry, Harry! Wake up! It's Hermione!"


	6. Shock

Hey everyone! I finally got this chapter up! It took me forever! I found so many mistakes in my original copy that I just rewrote the whole chapter! Thanks to everyone who's been waiting and who reveiewed chapter 4 - xxginnyfanxx and lindsey-31. Now on with the story!

**Chapter 5**

**Shock**

"Wha- What?" mumbled Harry, he looked over to side table at his clock, it read 10:00 a.m. "Aw… man I was sleeping in!" Then he remembered Ron had been screaming and turned to look at him.

Seeing that Harry had not understood what he had said he repeated himself a little calmer but still shaky, "Ha-Harry, Hermione, some-something's happened to her…"

"What! What happened to her? Is she alright?" said Harry fully awake and anxious to find out what was happening.

"No, no she's fine… It's her parents. Malfoy's dad, you know how he escaped and joined Voldermort back, right?" Ron said looking Harry straight in the eyes, his eyes were red and puffy and looked terrified.

Harry nodded. "Well, no one's heard from him and the others for the whole summer. There was one case where the Creevy's parents were killed but we still don't know by whom. Well, when Hermione called her parents this morning. She didn't get an answer, which has never happened before. Worried she called again, still no answer. Well, anyway, she went to go find someone, she found Moody."

Harry following closely had no idea where this was going, but wanted to hear the whole thing, let Ron continue.

"Moody, being over reactive as usual, Apparated straight to their house in Oxford with Hermione…" at this point Ron couldn't go on anymore and burst into tears. "I- I- can't say anymore, you're going to have to ask Hermione…"

"Oh, God! Why did it have to happen to her! Why!" Ron started screaming and cursing and finally grabbed Harry by the shoulders and told him in between sobs,

"Whatever happens, remember this is not your fault…I want you to promise me you won't blame yourself."

Harry unsure what to say, "Fine, I won't."

"PROMISE ME!" Ron begged, still sobbing.

Harry muttered, "I promise…"

"Thank you…" was all Ron said before he seemed to pass out on the bed.

Not wanting to disturb him Harry quickly exited the room to find Hermione. '_Please_ _don't let anything bad have happened_' he prayed to himself, but he knew in his heart something terrible must have happened for Ron to be acting this way.

Making his way down the stairs and into the hallway, he heard crying. Knowing that something was wrong he continued to walk down the hallway into the living room. What he saw was enough to make his heart stop. There was Luna and Neville on opposite sides of Hermione, they looked like they were trying to talk to her, but she just kept shaking her heard and crying.

"Hermione! Are you alright? What happened? Ron tried to explain but he just couldn't…" he was never able to finish his sentence because he was suddenly embraced by a large fuzzy brown girl. He went silent, he looked to Neville and Luna for help but they were quiet and watched the scene unravel.

"Hermione, we need to talk…" but once again he was cut off by a small finger that shushed his lips.

"Please, just stay here…" was all she said.

Harry obeyed; he thought he owed her that much after all she had done for him. He still wondered what had happened. All he could remember important that Ron had told him was Moody apparating himself and Hermione to her house. They had found something there. What happened?

Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by Hermione pulling away and wiping away her tears, trying to calm down, but she started hiccupping. She looked up at Harry, her eyes were bloodshot red and puffy, her hair was more of a mess than usual and her faced was tear stained.

"Ha- Harry, my parents _hiccup_ they're _hiccup_ they're…" she stammered out.

"They're what, Hermione? They're not dead are they?" he said his voice panicing. '_Please, oh, please, don't let them be dead…_'

She shook her head, "Worse…" was all she could manage and then she burst into tears again.

Neville taking that as his que, spoke up to Harry, "They were driven insane, Harry. Lucius Malfoy was trying to figure out where we were and tortured them into insanity. They did not tell where we were. They did not go in vein." He said this calmly, trying to comfort Hermione and explain to Harry at the same time. "Professor Dumbledore is filling out paper work to have muggles transported to St. Mungo's. I don't think they ever had muggles in their facilities before…" he cut himself off seeing Hermione starting to break out into tears again.

Harry was speechless. Yes, he had lost his parents but he barely remembered them. Hermione on the other hand had known hers for fifteen years. She had lived, talked, and even shared with her parents. It wasn't fair for that to happen to her. She was the smartest student that Hogwarts had ever had, and for her parents to be insane, it just wasn't fair. Then it hit him, Lucius Malfoy, hater of muggle-borns and muggles, had done something worse than kill. He had left them alive but yet sucked the very thing that made them human out of them, their mind and soul. Without that they were just bodies and that's what Hermione was going to have to call her parents from now on. _Oh, the Malfoys' were going to pay! But right now he needed to do something for Hermione, but what?_ He thought to himself.

Then Luna abruptly interrupted his thoughts, he had almost forgotten she was there, but he was thankful she was, "Hermione, I don't know exactly what to say… I don't know what you feel, and I'm not going to pretend I understand. But there is one thing that I know, your parents really loved you. They were willing to die for you and were stripped of that right. They instead gave up only what they could, their minds."

Hermione shuddered slightly but Luna continued.

But Hermione they didn't give up their hearts, if they had we would all be dead right now. Hermione, they wouldn't want you to cry over them. They would probably want you to praise them for their good deed!" and she ended her speech, leaving Hermione looking confused for once.

"I- I- never thought of it like that…" Hermione admitted.

"But make no mistake, Hermione, you should still mourn over them, just don't let it ruin your life. That's what they would want and what they deserve." Luna added on a gentler tone.

This statement left everyone quiet and looking at Hermione who had a small smile creeping onto her face. "Thank you, Luna," was all she said before running upstairs to where Ron was.

"Luna, that meant a lot to me," mumbled Neville. "I've always just dealt with my parent's insanity as an accident, doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. But now I know why my Gran said I should be proud of them, they gave what they could for me, for everyone else, for the world, I understand now." And with that he took Luna into a huge hug. A little shocked at his reaction, Luna's eyes went bigger than usual, but eventually she returned the hug. After that Neville's face was red and he ran upstairs to see how Ron was.

This left Harry and Luna alone. '_Finally_' he thought to himself. '_I can't push this off any longer_'. "Luna, can I talk to you, please?" he almost begged.

"Oh, of course, Harry." She said in what he thought must be her normal voice because it didn't trail off for once. And she sat down on the couch, waiting for Harry to join to her.

He did so and finally asked, "Do you think that it's my fault that Sirius died?" They had long since filled her in on the whole Sirius incident.

She took a moment to think then looked Harry straight into his emerald green eyes and said, "No, Harry, I don't." Relief flooded over his face but he knew that she was not finished yet. "It wasn't your's, Dumbledore's, Snape's or even Belle Lestrange's…" She stopped for a moment to make sure that Harry was still listening then continued, "It was one man's fault…"

Harry could feel his stomach tightening, 'Don't say it was Sirius's fault, don't say it was Sirius's fault…' was all he could help thinking.

"Voldermort's." she said it so simply as if it were just a name and she was saying a simple fact in school.

She noticed Harry's confusion and added, "If it weren't for him there would have been no War, no innocent deaths, no famous you, no experiments…" she inhaled quickly after that and continued. "Your parents would be alive, you would have most likely never become such good friends with us, you would never have had adventures, and of course be happy. Without Voldermort you would not be, Harry Potter the Boy-Who-Lived, you would just be normal Harry without a lightening bolt scare smack dab in the middle of your forehead! Malfoy wouldn't be so incredibly deadly, Hermione wouldn't be suffering, Neville wouldn't feel empty, Ron would have a whole other set of aunts and uncles, and I would still have my mum…"

Harry was still in complete shock. He had no idea how Luna's mum had died except that it had been in a lab experiment of some type. As if she could read his mind she added, "She had been trying to prove that Voldermort was still alive, she came across a dead snake one day in the forest. She brought it back into the lab in our house. She must have done something wrong because there was a huge explosion. I was only nine at the time so I was curious. I ran downstairs to the lab and saw the door blow off the hinges. Scared, I opened the door, what I saw was horrific. My mother was bleeding up against the wall, next to a snake which I discovered to be dead. There was green smoke everywhere, when I looked closer I noticed a skull in the middle. Then my dad came running down the stairs and screamed at the sight. The last thing I remember before being rushed out of the room was my mother saying 'Remember me…' and I have and always will. She didn't die a hero like your parents, Harry, but she died for a cause. From that day on I knew that a man named Tom Marvolo Riddle was alive. That's all I found in papers that had anything to do with what she was working on." She finished in a calm voice but there were tears on the rims of her eyes.

As one fell down, Harry wiped it away, wanting no distractions from her eyes. They were the eyes of a strong, brave and confident person, he didn't feel like he deserved to look into such eyes but he kept his gaze before saying, "I never knew… I never knew my parents, but- but you knew your mother, remember your mother. All I have is a flash of green light and photographs… Then I met Sirius after thinking he was the reason that I didn't have memories of them. Then I found out about Pettigrew, who had been my parent's friend and betrayer. I thought that it was his entire fault, but it wasn't. You were right it was all Voldermort's fault. If it hadn't been for him, I wouldn't have this scar, these nightmares, that vision, that adventure to the Department of Mysteries, that battle, and his death. It would have all been fine…"

"Don't lose sight of your destiny though, Harry, what has happened in the past can't be changed but what happens in the future can. That's what we have to fight for. That's why all this is happening. So stop focussing on the past and start focussing on the present, that's what Sirius would have wanted, you know that, Sirius wouldn't have wanted you to dawdle on what could have been but instead what could be."

They were quiet for a moment then Luna said, "Sorry, Harry, but it's been a long day, I think I might need to take a nap before lunch…" and with that she went down the hall and upstairs to her room.

Deciding he wasn't hungry, he was about to go up to his room when remembered that Ron, Neville and Hermione were up there, but then he remembered that he was supposed to be comforting Hermione went upstairs.

'_This is going to be a long day_' he thought to himself.


	7. Confrontation

**Thanks to all of you who reviewed and thanks again for waiting so long for me to write the next chapter. ANd special thanks to xxginnyfanxx a superb writer who inspired me to once again pick up my story and write again. So I dedicate this chapter to you xxginnyfanxx and R&R!**

**Chapter 6**

**Confrontation**

He slowly walked up the stairs which seemed to go on for miles without end, but he finally reached the door to his room. He gently pushed it opened and was greeted by a sad sight. Ron lay on the bed with Hermione next to him crying gently on his shoulders. Neville was in the corner of the room in a chair looking at the two with sympathy.

"Good of you to join us Harry," said Neville trying to make conversation. "You and Luna have a good talk then?"

"Uh huh," he said half listening all he could do was feel sick inside.

Finally Ron sputtered out, "Harry, Harry, are you alright? Don't leave, please don't. We all need you..." and as his voice trailed his eyes fell onto Hermione who seemed to cried herself to sleep.

"I think she's asleep. Should we take her up to her room?" suggested Neville.

"I'm not asleep it just takes to much energy to open my eyes, and I'm afraid if I do I'll start crying again," and as if to settle the matter she added, "I'm staying here," and she snuggled herself closer to Ron who was looking a lot better.

"That's fine, Hermione, I was hoping that you would stay because there's something I really need to tell you all," he supposed now might be the best time to tell them all. To see if they still wanted to be his friends or just go and be safe, he wouldn't blame them. "Do you remember in the Department of Mysteries?"

They all nodded so he continued, "As you know the prophecy orb was broken and we all thought that it was gone forever." They nodded again, "Well we were wrong."

And with that, all other noises stopped and everything seemed to go deathly quiet but he pressed forward, "Professor Dumbledore was present at the original reading of the prophecy and has it forever embedded in his mind."

"With a pensive, correct?" said Hermione who despite the circumstances could not give up the opportunity to answer a question.

"Yeah, that's right, Hermione," and she smiled when he said that and he felt better. "Well, anyways it was told be no other than Professor Trelawney." They all eyed him suspiciously and Hermione scoffed but then he gave them a serious look and the gave him back their attention. "The exact words of the prophecy were, **T**he one with the power to vanquish the **D**ark **L**ord approaches....**B**orn to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the **D**ark **L**ord will mark him as his equal, but he will have the power the **D**ark **L**ord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives.... **T**he one with the power to vanquish the **D**ark **L**ord will be born as the seventh month dies...."

They were all quiet Harry could not believe he had told them, it was way too soon. They would all hate him, this whole stupid think was the reason so many innocent people had died. Then someone spoke.

It was Hermione, "Harry, you do realize it could be someone else right? I mean there was lots of people that defied V-Voldermort," Ron winced slightly but not so bad as usual, "Surely there could be others who defied him three times and had a baby at the end of July..." her voice trailed off and her eyes fell on Neville who had gone ghostly white.

"N-n-n-no-n-n-no w-w-way you don't think it could be do you. I mean you don't think it could actually be me do you?"

"Don't worry Neville, it's not you, Dumbledore already went over it with me, Voldermort marked me not you, he chose me not you. You won, I lost. He's Half-blood, I'm half-blood, your pure-blood. I was marked as his equal, a half-blood..." Once again it was all deathly silent.

"So what are we to do now?" questioned Ron.

And as if to answer his question Mrs. Weasley's voice rang upstairs, "Lunch is ready!"

Short I know but that's all that's need right now, really kind of an introduction to the next chapter! R&R flames welcome! Abayo for now!


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